There was something special about seeing Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe together on stage.
For starters, Cooder had not toured Australia since 1978. Lowe had been here twice before. The first time was for Countdown in 1979 and the last time was in 1996.
Considering the rarity of a Cooder visit and the gap between Lowe shows it was an interesting setlist indeed. Lowe steered clear of his Rockpile years. There was no ‘Cruel to be Kind’. Cooder kept it more mainstream for fans of his 70s work right up to and including his one and only chart hit in Australia ‘Little Sister’.
Sure, Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe had a few hits between them but they were pop stars for a moment in time by default. What you go to see at this show are two of the world’s greatest musicians together on stage.
The combo is rounded up with Ry’s son Joachim on drums and Alex Lily and Joachim’s wife Juliette Commagere on backing vocals.
The show opened with the Little Village song ‘Fool Who Knows’. Cooder and Lowe were half of the “supergroup” Little Village with John Hiatt and Jim Keltner. It was an appropriate start to the show, opening at the point where they started working together.
Nick Lowe told the story of his 1979 hit (I thought at this point he was going to go into ‘Cruel To Be Kind’) but then played ‘Half A Boy, Half A Man’, a minor hit from 1984. Maybe he had his years confused. He certainly had a very clear memory of his former visit to St Kilda and the “meat market” that have since been replaced by a supermarket.
His shaved down acoustic version of ‘What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding’ was outstanding. I can’t say I was too familiar with a lot of his songs from the set and in researching his songs had trouble uncovering a few of them. (If you have any more info on the songs in the setlist below, email me at paul@undercover.com.au).
Ry went right back to his self-titled debut album from 1970 and performed ‘One Meat Ball’. If you were into music in the 70s you most likely owned his ‘Into The Purple Valley’, ‘Paradise and Lunch’ and ‘Chicken Skin Music’ albums and if so you would not have been disappointed.
From his recent trilogy, ‘Chinitto Chinitto’ from the 2005 ‘Chazev Ravine’ was given an airing with Juliette and Alex on vocals.
If you are sitting on the fence wondering if you should go to this show then go. It will be worth it.
Here is the setlist for Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe in Melbourne, November 28, 2009.
Fool Who Knows (Nick) (from Little Village, 1992)
Fool For A Cigarette (Ry) (from Paradise and Lunch, 1974)
Vigilante Man (Ry) (from Into The Purple Valley, 1972)
Losing Boy (Nick) (Eddie Giles cover)
Chinitto Chinitto (Juliette Commagere and Alex Lilly) (from Chavez Ravine, 2005)
Crazy Bout An Automobile (Ry) (from Borderline, 1980)
One of these days (Nick)
Crying In My Sleep (Nick) (from Pinker and Prouder Than Previous, 1988)
Down In Hollywood (Ry) (from Bop Til You Drop, 1979)
Half A Boy Half A Man (Nick) (From Nick Lowe & His Cowboy Outfit, 1984)
One Meat Ball (Ry) (From Ry Cooder, 1970)
Raining Raining (Nick) (from Quiet Please: The Nw Best of Nick Lowe, 2009)
Go Home Girl (Ry) (from Bop Til You Drop, 1979)
I Got Mine (Ry) (from Chicken Skin Music, 1976)
FDR in Trinidad (Ry) (from Into The Purple Valley, 1972)
He’ll Have To Go (Ry) (from Chicken Skin Music, 1976)
13 Question Method (Ry) (from Get Rhythm, 1987)
What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding (Nick)
Little Sister (Ry) (from Bop Til You Drop, 1979)
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live (Ry) (from Ry Cooder, 1970)
Watch some dodgy YouTube footage of Ry and Nick performing ‘Little Sister’:
